by A. M. Brooks
“Come on,” Ethan said, dragging me closer. “You need to meet people.” We started toward the keg. “You drink, Nora?”
I shook my head no, although tonight might be a good time to start, judging by the looks we were attracting. “I’ll pour my own cup,” I said, reaching out to stop him.
“Sure,” he said, stepping aside, a knowing smile on his lips.
“Ethan! Finally,” the girl, Taylor, from the super-mart, said, standing in front of us.
“Hey Tay,” Ethan said, motioning toward me. “This is my new friend Nora.” Heat crept to my cheeks. The shock on Taylor’s face was almost funny.
“Hi, I’m Lily, and this is Taylor, my sister.” The other girl, Lily, had stepped in front and was shaking my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Nora.”
“Thanks,” I said. My eyes moving back and forth between Ethan and Taylor who appeared to be in a silent battle.
“Ethan is right,” Lily said as she elbowed him out of the way. “You need to meet people.” She took my arm and I let her lead me away. We walked a good twenty feet before Taylor’s yells could be heard. Looking back at them, Ethan was grinning at Taylor, her hands were in motion and her face was red. Lily giggled next to me.
“Trust me you do not want to be in the middle of that,” she said sighing.
“Are they together?” I asked her.
“Uh,” she said, tilting her head. “As together as the Kings get with girls, I guess. I don’t know, my sister has been saying Ethan was ‘the one’ since middle school.”
“The Kings?” I asked.
“Mmmhmm,” she said, taking a drink. “Ethan, his twin brother Elijah, and their cousin, Darrian King. The Kings.” We walked farther down the beach toward the fire.
“I think I’m missing something. Is this like a cult school?”
Lily started laughing at the look of disgust on my face. “Nora, you are a breath of fresh air. No, it’s not a cult school. There just are not many students, so everyone knows everyone. And the guys have a reputation. The fact that you came with Ethan tonight was noticed.”
“Great,” I said, shaking my head. “A cult school.”
“It’s not a cult, girl,” she said, laughing again.
“Let me guess, the Kings are the most popular guys and every girl wants to be with them and they probably have, and the Kings are badasses who don’t care about anyone else?” I gave her a pointed look over the rim of my glass.
“Worse,” she said, leaning closer. “Their parents own the two largest businesses in the city, all our parents work for the King family.”
“Oh my God,” I said, trying hard not to laugh. “It’s the hugest cliché.”
“We are going to be great friends,” Lily said, clinking my glass with hers.
Lily introduced me to more of her friends, other girls who would be juniors this year like me. More than once I heard the King name mentioned and a few girls had been brazen enough to ask me how I knew Ethan. It was priceless to explain to them I met him in the tampon aisle and he asked me to the party. Summer and Whitney had joined us through the night, and I was introduced to most of their friends too.
“Well,” Lily said, looking around from our seated spots by the fire. “I think you’ve met the entire junior class.”
“What?” I asked. “Are you serious? How small is this school?”
“I’m kidding,” she said. “I think our class is about seven hundred people, so you haven’t met them all yet.”
“Seven hundred is small?” I looked around at the girls, all of them nodding their head in agreement with Lily. “Wow, in some of the places I’ve lived small is one twenty-five.”
“Where have you lived?” Whitney leaned forward on her knees to ask.
“Here and there,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. I tipped the rest of my glass back into my mouth.
“I’m going for a refill,” Lily said, standing.
“I’m fine,” I told her. I’d already had three and knew I’d be pushing my luck if I had another right now.
“I’m fine too,” Summer said.
“I’ll go with you.” Whitney and Lily went back toward the keg. I could see that Ethan was still where we had left him, Taylor was now standing between his legs, but his gaze followed Lily as she made her way toward them. Interesting.
“Looks like the rest of them are here now,” Summer said, nodding to where I had been looking.
“Who?” I asked.
“Elijah and Darrian,” she answered. Her eyes tracked over my face.
“I’ve heard they’re something else.” I turned back to her, not really interested in seeing the infamous Kings.
“You could say that,” she smiled. “They’re actually decent guys. I’ve known them for a long time. Alex has been friends with all those guys since elementary school.”
“That’s nice,” I said, the bitterness in my words making me cringe. “I mean to have friends for that long without people moving away or something.”
“Yeah,” she said, looking at me speculatively. “It is. Have you moved a lot, Nora?”
I nodded at her. “This is lucky number twelve.”
“Wow.” She laid a hand on my arm. “I hope you guys stay in Araminta for a while.”
“So far, me too,” I said, giving her a small smile. My eyes pricked with tears.
“Come on.” Summer stood up wiping sand from her legs. “Let’s head over to everyone else.”
I stood up slowly, my stomach swooped, and I wasn’t sure if it was the drinks or the idea of meeting more people. The farther away from the fire we got, the colder I became. Wrapping my arms around my chest, I mentally cursed myself for forgetting to grab a zip up or jacket. “Closer” by The Chainsmokers was playing through the speakers and I wanted to laugh at the irony of it.
“Summer!” Ethan yelled, moving around Taylor who was suddenly looking at me like she wanted to scratch my eyes out. “You stealing my new best friend?” Ethan asked as he looped his arms around our shoulders.
“Who’s your best friend?” the guy who had been standing next to Ethan asked. He was the mirror vision of Ethan at first look, but the moment my eyes collided with his, I could tell they were different. Where Ethan was light, Elijah was haunted. The corners of his mouth pulled up in a mocking grin as if he knew the conclusion I had reached. Still, he nodded at me in a friendly manner. “I’m Elijah.”
“I figured,” I said, taking the glass Lily held out to me even though I wasn’t drinking more. “Nora.” He nodded again, his arm sliding around the stunning redhead next to him. They looked like a legit couple just as Alex and Summer did. Another difference between the twins, Elijah could do commitment and Ethan was a fuckboy.
“Tara,” the redhead said, giving me a timid smile. I liked her as well already. I smiled back.
“Nora,” I said again, nodding.
“Well good, we’re all friends now,” Ethan announced as he took his place next to his brother again and picked up his beer.
“Where is the third?” Whitney asked.
“Arguing with the wife again,” Ethan said. Elijah snickered.
“Wife?” The question left my mouth before I thought of how actually dumb it sounded considering we were in high school.
“Pretty much,” Summer said, earning her a mischievous smile from Alex.
“Lost again, new here.” I raised my hand.
“Darrian and Mik,” Lily explained. “They aren’t together, but Mik thinks they are still. Their dads are partners and want the company handed down to family. They will most likely be married someday.”
“Such a shame,” Ethan said contemplatively into his glass.
“Just because their dads are partners, they have to get married? Why can’t they marry separately and be partners too?” the guy, Cody, from earlier asked.
“Because if you’re a millionaire, you’d never know if someone wanted you just for the payout, so you marry another millionaire,” I said softly. The little trust
fund I had sitting in the bank from my mom was untouchable until I graduated from high school. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. It was just a secret I held not even willing to tell my dad. I had seen how fast he went through what my mom had left him. While we had missed the change in my mom, she had been preparing to leave us by increasing her life insurance and transferring money from her life savings to my account. To me, it was blood money.
“Or just never get married,” a low voice spoke from behind me. Five simple words caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. Tingles ran down my bare arms and legs.
“‘Sup man, you made it.” Ethan slid in next to him giving him a slap on the back.
“Wouldn’t miss it, man.” Even though the new guy spoke to Ethan, his grey eyes still locked on my green ones. My cheeks tingled, very aware that others were starting to notice the attention he was giving me.
“This is my new friend Nora,” Ethan said, slipping his arm around me as well. “Nora this is my old cousin Darrian.” And my stomach dropped. He was one of the Kings. The guys that all the girls were whispering about, the ones Lily told me ruled the city and all the parents in it. I felt slightly sick like I’d just been told he was a Montague. He must have seen the way my face was falling, his grin getting bigger.
Darrian King. Cliché aside, this boy was everything I was not expecting. Ethan and Elijah were tan, Darrian was a few shades darker like milk chocolate. He stood a few inches taller than Ethan, over six feet. Dark jeans hung low on his hips, a plain white T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest. A silver chain dipped into the V of his shirt, standing out against his dark skin. His hair was cut short, a design etched into the one side behind his right ear. It was his eyes that did me in and almost…almost…made my knees go weak. They were light and grey, his face handsome and jaw strong. Small muscles jumped around his jaw when our eyes connected. Heat seared through me straight to my core. The new girl was staring at one of the Kings, but I didn’t care. And more importantly, I couldn’t make myself look away.
“Awesome, cuz,” he said, looking at Ethan for the first time. “Why don’t you just invite anyone these days.” My jaw fell open. Asshole. He weaved his way to the keg, a few of the other guys following him in stony silence.
“Whew.” Elijah whistled. “Ouch!” Ethan slapped him in the stomach.
“Don’t mind him,” he said, nodding in the direction of his cousin. “He doesn’t get out much.”
“That’s probably a good thing,” I replied loud enough for Darrian to hear. I turned and headed far away from the group.
“Girl.” Lily was laughing as she caught up to me. “That was great!”
“What?” I asked, totally confused at what she thought was so funny.
“You just put the Kings down. And you’re new. It’s like social suicide.” Yet she continued laughing. Soon I was laughing too as we found a place closer to the fire. Being away from Darrian’s watchful eyes and the awareness of the Kings left me feeling chilled suddenly. The adrenaline was starting to leave my body. Despite my dad’s enthusiasm, I didn’t believe Araminta would be my home for long. I didn’t care what these people thought of me and I wouldn’t get attached like always.
